A SOUTH Cheshire MP has hit out at plans that would give council tax inspectors the right to enter homes and fine householders.

Eddisbury Tory MP Stephen O'Brien, pictured, whose constituency includes a slice of Crewe and Nantwich, claims residents face fines of £1,000 a time, and then £200 every day after that, if they do not let the inspectors into their home or if they fail to 'assist' tax inspectors when inside their home. The new laws are being piloted in Northern Ireland, with parts of England next in line.

It will see a new system of local government taxation where householders face a 'house price tax', a set percentage of the value of their home each year, and features like gardens, patios, conservatories, double glazing, scenic views, number of bedrooms and number of parking spaces increase the size of the local tax bill.

He said: 'I am very concerned that Northern Ireland is now being used as a testing ground for Gordon Brown's tax inspectors, from the levying of a new house price tax, to the use of invasive Big Brother computer databases, to new aggressive state powers to enter family homes.'